President Bola Tinubu has said the Nigerian Government was committed to revamping the entire education sector in the country to produce well-educated citizens.
Tinubu, who was a Visitor to the University of Ibadan, UI, gave the assurance at the institution’s 75th Foundation Day anniversary, conferment of honorary degrees and admission to higher degrees ceremony, held at the International Conference Centre of the University.
The Visitor, who was represented by the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, said his administration was fully conscious of the importance and centrality of education and would bring in more innovations that would revise the entire education sector from curriculum review at all levels, to produce well-educated citizens empowered by digital, industrial, and evolution-driven science, technologies, and innovation.
President Tinubu assured Nigerians that the Federal Government remained committed to the welfare of all students and would see that no student is deprived of education on account of poverty, saying that explained why the students’ loan scheme was to be re-introduced.
The Visitor rejoiced with the UI for maintaining its leading position in the country as well as in Africa, charging the institution not to rest on its oars but to continue to forge ahead.
He congratulated the 722 Ph.D. graduates and urged them to always adapt to change because the world is in a state of constant change, and society is waiting for their contributions to development.
The Chancellor, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, on his part, noted that university education ought not only to impart knowledge but also transform character because it is the aspect that seems to dignify in the area of learning, calling on the learned community to reflect on the state of the academic sector and proffer solutions that would transform the education system.
He congratulated the graduates and enjoined them to deliver in their areas of responsibility, noting that funding must be released to cater to research and education so that higher institutions would be the center of research and education.
The Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation at the African Union Commission, Professor Mohamed Belhocine, congratulated the graduates for their hard work and for being found worthy and learning before obtaining the higher degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
In an address read on his behalf by Mrs Monica Idinosa of the AU Commission in Nigeria, Professor Belhocine noted that one of the achievements of the University of Ibadan is the international recognition it has attained as a center of excellence, noting that UI products are men and women who have made positive contributions to development within Nigeria and globally, by proffering solutions to various challenges.
He disclosed that 509 students had graduated from PAULESI since inception, and those were the 7th cohort of PhD. graduates, pointing out that the latest graduates were from 45 African countries.
In his remark, the Vice-Chancellor, the University of Ibadan UI, Professor Kayode Adebowale, assured that the University would not relent in its resolve to be the flagship of postgraduate studies in the nation, noting that the university’s determination to uphold the tradition of transparency and fairness in its admission exercises was reflecting on the quality of students’ performance.
He challenged the graduates to note that the number of years spent as a student and the name, as well as reputation of a university, would not singularly decide the worth of a degree but that the worth of a degree “it’s in the industry, learning and character that the holder of the degree displays daily from the moment of obtaining the degree”.
The Vice-Chancellor, enjoined the graduates to be and remain active stakeholders of the University project.
He said, “The University of Ibadan is a national intellectual heritage. We all belong to it. It belongs to all. I invite you to rise to support the University in all ways possible.”
The University of Ibadan gave honorary degrees to four persons of integrity at the 75th Foundation Day ceremony, while Professor Mayowa O. Owolabi was awarded a Doctor of Science, the highest doctorate of the University of Ibadan.
Some of the dignitaries at the Foundation Day ceremony include the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Lekan Balogun, who was represented; the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; the Olowu of Owu Kingdom, Oba Professor Saka Adelola Matemilola, a first-class Mechanical Engineering graduate of UI; and the Emir of Kano, among many others.
Also present were UI at 75 ambassadors, religious leaders, and captains of commerce and industry.
A major highlight of the ceremony was the recognition of one of the foundation students of the University of Ibadan, 97-year-old Professor Adetowun Ogunsheye, who witnessed the foundation laying ceremony 75 years ago.
Dominica Nwabufo
